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A ‘Doctor Who’ Spinoff, Aimed at Teenagers, Coming From BBC

By Roslyn Sulcas October 2, 2015 4:36 pmOctober 2, 2015 4:36 pm

LONDON — A spinoff of the wildly popular science fiction television series, “Doctor Who,” aimed at teenagers, will begin production in the spring and air on the BBC in 2016, the organization announced. The series, “Class,” will be written by Patrick Ness, best known for his young adult trilogy, “Chaos Walking,” and the novel “A Monster Calls.”

“No one has documented the dark and exhilarating world of the teenager like Patrick Ness, and now we’re bringing his brilliant storytelling into Doctor Who,” said Steven Moffat, the lead writer and executive producer of both “Doctor Who” and the new series.

“Class” will be set in London in the fictional Coal Hill School, which featured in the first “Doctor Who” episode in 1963. (Yes, 1963.) There, the granddaughter of the Doctor awaited repairs to the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space) time travel machine in which the Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, traverses the universe combating his foes and saving civilizations.

No details have been announced about cast or characters. “I can’t wait for people to meet the heroes of Class, to meet the all-new villains and aliens, to remember that the horrors of the darkest corners of existence are just about on par with having to pass your A-levels,” said Mr. Ness, referring to the final year of exams taken by British students.

This is not the first time that a “Doctor Who” spinoff has been aimed at a teenage audience. “Totally Doctor Who” ran in 2006-7, and “The Sarah Jane Adventures,” featuring one of the Doctor’s traveling companions, ran from 2007 to 2011. As both series featured cameo appearances from the Doctors of the moment (one of the series’ conceits is that its hero changes appearance regularly), a cameo from the current incumbent, Peter Capaldi, does not seem out of the question.

A version of this article appears in print on 10/05/2015, on page C3 of the NewYork edition with the headline: A u2018Doctor Whou2019 Spinoff Aimed at Teenagers.